Writer/director Clive Cohen has created one of the strangest yet intriguing movies I've seen in some time. It might remind some of the gore & puppets-fest MEET THE FEEBLES but it's also chock full of what seems like a parade of zillions of b-to-z-grade scream queens. EXTERMINATOR CITY is the impossible tale of a serial killer robot (formerly a pest control robot) being tracked by a robot homicide detective and a robot psychiatrist in a dreary future as model flying cars whiz past model buildings and busty babes meet bloody deaths. Clive Cohen talked to DARK GALLERY about his unique creation.

DG: How did you come up with the idea for the story? Were in influenced by any movies or books or anything in particular?

Clive: I had the idea a while ago. I wanted to do a New York Ripper style movie but with a twist. So I cast the central characters as robots. I'm a big Giallo fan and I wanted to do a movie with interesting visual murders.

DG: Did you build the robots yourself? How about the buildings? What kinds of materials were used? Foamcore? Cardboard? Paper mache? Duct tape?

Clive: I built all the effects which was a fun challenge. With low budget effects you grab whatever you can lay your hands on and experiment with it. I used everything from old car parts, plastic, model kits and of course duct tape. Also the robots were 1ife size so you can cram in a lot of detail.

DG: It looked like you potentially could've shot a lot of the movie by yourself - is that how it went?

Clive: I shot the footage with the robots and added a lot of the camera moves in digitally at a later stage. I would never say I shot the whole film myself. A lot of people worked hard in front and behind the camera creating vital footage for the film.

DG: I was amazed at how many top-heavy women appeared! It's genius to have most (or all?) of them shoot their own bits and cutting it all together with stuff you shot. I did a project called ODD NOGGINS a while back where I had people around the country shoot their own scenes according to script segments I wrote, then I cut it all together with footage I shot here. As I was watching Exterminator City I kept thinking that it was that same concept taken to the next level, what with so many "guest stars."

Clive: On a big feature movie you have various units shooting effects and grabbing shots here and there and then of course the whole thing is put together so it was really a case of using the same philosophy on a smaller budget. Studying giallo movies I tried to work out exactly what I would need to construct various sequences. But having said that the actresses and cameramen really added a lot to the film contributing their own ideas and performances. I was extremely fortunate to work with so many beautiful and talented women.

DG: One of the striking things about the movie is the lightening-paced editing - lots of cool, artistic shots and very fast editing. Was that a function off trying not to show the robots for too long in each shot, or a plan for keeping the movie paced well, etc.?

Clive: It was a combination of the two things. For action sequences you need a lot of fast cutting to bring it to life and the same could also be said for the robots. You don't want to show a static effect for too long on the screen and I wanted to try and keep the thing moving as much as possible.

DG: Another thing I thought was cool was the music and the sound effects. So many robotic whizzes and bangs, plus metallic sounds, gushing gore, etc. Tell us about putting the sound together.

Clive: Once I got into post production I watched a lot of sci-fi movies with the sound on and off and it makes you realize how important those sound effects are in creating the illusion. If your central characters are robots every time they move you need to hear a mechanical sound. The trick is to make each movement sound different and also each robot ie you cant have two robots walking making the same sounds. It certainly took a while.

DG: What have you got planned next? What might we look forward to in the future?

Clive: I would certainly like to make another film and a have a few ideas so maybe just maybe.....

Comment by Kokomaro on 2015-10-11 20:50:37The people ddicee what stays on the TV sure.But others limit that choice for a variety of reasons.Fox would not have certain shows that say NBC would and don't forget that shows just don't entertain, they maintain trains of thought or the provoke new ways of seeing a problem. So if you never provoke the output becomes the drug of choice for many people which is reflected in what they will then choose when presented with a choice.This is why people do not watch the news, do not watch documentaries, do not care for what lives outside their immediate locale. To engage them outside of that is to broaden their horizons and giving people knowledge is a dangerous thing because you cannot predict what will then happen. To engage them is also a change and making a change in something like viewing habits is really hard. Why do they put god shows on early? To hook the viewer. They know that people won't even press a button to channel hop if they get things right. And that's no effort.So TV gives the appearance of a democracy but it is not. Advertising drives it, the politicians drive it, the Actor's Unions drive it, other vested interests drive it. People don't though.It's not a democracy when the choice is so limited (esp in the US) even if that choice appears to be from a large number of alternatives.

Comment by Miley on 2015-10-12 04:10:42I don't agree that it is available to eryvebody . Believe it or not, there are people who don't have televisions. Then you've got the various levels of channels to consider local, cable, movie channels, ppv, naughty stuff, etc. So does that mean that I, who merely has local and basic cable channels, am less important than Shep, who has a suscription to every adult channel and then some? He is able to buy himself more representation in this so-called democracy what a corrupt system! ;)AND reality shows are God's way of reminding us that at least we aren't THAT freaky. Kind of a pick-me-up unless you're related to one of them

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Comment by Dahasan on 2015-10-13 00:50:39haha.. yeah, i saw that article yeretsday about Fox News. News is very different from the entertainment division. People really do have the choice there. Sure, Studio Execs decide what initially makes it on the air, but people decide whether it stays. If it weren't democratic, at least a little, shows like Family Guy and Jericho wouldn't have gotten second shots.

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